The Hindu : Tip of the iceberg?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 25, 2003

International

International

Tip of the iceberg?

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington april 24. The American economy is feeling the impact of the SARS with at least one major airline giving this as one of the reasons for heading to bankruptcy courts. The American Airlines has blamed the first quarter results on a weak travel demand that has been caused by the sluggish economy, the Iraq war and the SARS.

The Beige Book survey released by the Federal Reserve has cited SARS as one of the factors which is holding back the U.S. economy as it is cutting into the tourism sectors. The West Coast, in particular San Francisco, is seeing weakened tourism travel. Authorities are not only being careful of the people coming into this country but have very diligently been warning citizens not to travel to such destinations as Hong Kong and China.

Major airlines are reporting steep drop in air travel to Asian destinations with many adding several more countries in the Asia Pacific to be on the safer side. According to the World Health Organisation, the most affected countries are China, including Hong Hong, Vietnam, Taiwan, Singapore and Canada though Toronto has bristled at the notion of having it in the list.

Some scientists in this part of the world are saying that what is known of SARS is only the tip of the iceberg; and that something `deadlier' could be on the cards; and that the disease could turn out to be the worst that hit the world — worse than even AIDS, or the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, that is said to have infected at least 80 million people.

Along with the frustration in the scientific community over the SARS there is the lingering concern and apprehension that authorities in China are not yet fully on board with the international community. The concern for Asia is that if there is no quick end in sight to fighting the disease, some major American firms could start sourcing elsewhere, away from Asia, particularly China.

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